


Come Back

by jenoya19



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Canon Compliant, Canon Universe, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Everyone Needs A Hug, Fluff and Angst, Haechan Needs a Hug, How Do I Tag, I'm Sorry, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Jaemin Needs a Hug, Jeno Needs A Hug, Physical Abuse, Protective Hyungs, Protective Taeyong, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Hatred, The Author Regrets Everything
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2019-10-01 20:34:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17250965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenoya19/pseuds/jenoya19
Summary: Maybe they would be okay without Mark. Maybe they would get through this.Maybe they should tell one of the hyungs....Maybe they need help.ORAfter Mark's graduation, a new dance instructor makes life hell for the Dreamies





	1. Switch

**Author's Note:**

> this story is gonna deal with some heavy themes like abuse and sexual assault to an extent. there will be NO smut because the dreamies are kids but the theme will still be there. please be careful ok?

Mark’s graduation was tough on all of them. It didn’t matter that he was still in NCT. They were losing their hyung, their leader, their ace, their _friend_. But that was the name of the game. Dream was a rotational unit and they would all have to leave at some point, but that hadn’t sunk in until now. The Dream dorm was somber for a week after Mark permanently moved to be with 127, or at least as somber as 6 teenage boys can be. Usually Donghyuck and Mark moved around together, but now the best friends were separated, leaving a strange atmosphere where Donghyuck didn’t have someone to play off. The maknaes had each other, Jeno and Jaemin were practically (literally) dating at this point, and Renjun was very settled into his role as a fifth wheel. Of course they had all been friends for over 6 years, and it wasn’t like they didn’t love Donghyuck’s company, but it was still a bit awkward.

 

It was a few months into 2019 when NCT Dream started preparing their next album. It was going to be their first comeback without Mark; they couldn't help but be sad. The low vibe in the practice room is what greeted their manager as he walked in to introduce their choreographer for this comeback.

 

"Just because Mark is gone doesn't mean you can get lazy, guys. Time to focus! This is your new choreographer, Kim Hyunwoo. Treat him with respect, okay?" Hyunwoo and the dreamies bowed to each other in mutual greeting.

 

"I'm leaving now. Make sure to listen to him well. We don't need any troubles," the manager said as he walked out the door. The dreamies started to resume their stretching when they were cut off by a loud clap.

 

"In front of me. In a line. I need to assess your heights," Hyunwoo shouted. The teenagers sent each other confused glances, clearly startled.

 

"I said in a line! Let's go!" Hyunwoo shouted yet again, springing the boys into action. They shuffled quickly into a line before the tall man.

 

Hyunwoo squinted as he examined each of the boys, looking at them for what seemed much longer than necessary. Renjun couldn't help but think he wasn't just checking their heights once he noticed the man glancing back at Jeno more than a couple times as he walked around the line of boys. His suspicions were confirmed as Hyunwoo stopped in front of Jeno, grabbinng his face to cup in one hand, making Jeno squeak.

 

"You sure are a pretty one, aren't you? They don't lie when they say SM has the best visuals. I'll have to put you in the front often so more people can see that beautiful face."

 

Jeno stood frozen in fear as Hyunwoo released his harsh grip from his face. Donghyuck immediately turned to check that Jeno was okay before he was shocked back into place with Hyunwoo's ear-shatteringly loud voice.

 

"I will take no disrespect, no misbehaviour, and no mistakes from any of you. While you are in this practice room, I am the leader and you will follow my every instruction to the letter. Is that understood?" A chorus of "yes"s solidified into a reply, and Hyunwoo once again clapped his hands. "Good. Let's start blocking."


	2. Another World

Spirits were low as the dreamies returned to their dorm late that night.

 

As soon as the door opened, Donghyuck had announced that he was going to take a shower and quickly scampered down the hall. Renjun had silently followed, turning his bedroom door lock as he disappeared inside. Jaemin vaguely heard Chenle whispering that he and Jisung were going to play video games in his room and dragging the maknae off before he focused his attention on Jeno, who had curled up on the couch.

 

"Jeno-ya..."

 

Jaemin walked over and sunk down onto the soft fabric of the couch, wrapping his long arms around Jeno's torso. Was he shaking? The movement was small but Jaemin could definitely feel Jeno trembling beneath his arms. Maybe he was crying? Jeno wasn't one to cry...but then again he hadn't had the best day. None of them had. Jaemin laced his fingers through Jeno's hair, playing with it and landing a few small kisses on his head in an attempt at comforting him. Usually it worked well, but today the young idol just kept shaking. Jaemin let there be silence for a few minutes before deciding he had to do something more to help his boyfriend.

 

"Jeno, please look at me."

 

Jeno made no move to raise his head, so Jaemin did it for him with a light touch, meeting his eyes finally.

 

"I want to help you but I can't if you don't let me," Jaemin said, leaning his forehead forward to meet Jeno's.

 

"I'm sorry Nana."

 

"You have no reason to be sorry. I'm here for you." Jaemin hugged him closer, Jeno finally uncurling himself to wrap his arms around Jaemin too. They stayed like that for a few moments, Jaemin taking the time to reflect on what had happened that day, why Jeno was so upset.

 

 

_*earlier*_

* * *

**_  
_**

 

 

Hyunwoo is...not the nicest person ever.

 

Ok, maybe Hyunwoo isn't nice at all. But lucky for the dreamies, his choreography was great.

 

Well, at least the parts they got to see.

 

During their first day of learning the dance, they had _barely_ gotten through a quarter of the song. Usually they could get up through the second verse on the first day, but Hyunwoo was just _so_ picky. It seemed like they had to do every 8-count a thousand times. Fix this, change that, focus, focus, focus! Jaemin sure felt like he was focusing, but Hyunwoo's hawk eyes were convinced that he must not be. How else would he be getting that step so wrong? Hyunwoo didn't take well to lack of focus, a fact that they were all too aware of by the end of practice, especially Chenle.

 

"What the _fuck_ is wrong with you? Can't even do a simple wave correctly? Are you even listening??" Hyunwoo glared at Chenle through the mirror, turning around and briskly walking over to the short teenager after he received no reply. "I asked you if you were listening, kid. You need to answer me if I ask you something or I'll be pissed. Understood?"

 

Chenle nodded.

 

"Answer me _in words_ , you idiot!"

 

"I understand," Chenle spoke out shakily. Hyunwoo sighed in frustration before heading back to the front of the room, grazing his fingers along Jeno's arm on the way, a gesture that made Jeno shudder and didn't go unnoticed by Jaemin. Over the next two hours, Hyunwoo called out Chenle six more times for messing up.

 

"I told you to focus"

"Can you seriously not do this?"

"You're not paying attention, Chenle"

"How the hell are you even an idol..."

"I SAID TO PAY ATTENTION. CAN YOUR DUMBASS BRAIN SERIOUSLY NOT COMPREHEND THAT?"

"Get on the floor."

 

Everyone stopped moving, eyes following the man who was stomping towards a nervous Chenle.

 

"I said get down. 20 push ups, right now." Chenle didn't move. He still didn't understand what he had done wrong to spark this.

 

"Chenle..." Renjun warned softly from the other side of the practice room, but he still didn't move. Hyunwoo got tired of waiting. He pushed Chenle's shoulder harshly, causing the Chinese boy to fall to the ground. Donghyuck rushed forward. He wouldn't tolerate this treatment towards his members, and he needed to make that clear to their new choreographer.

 

"Do NOT touch him. You do not get to push us around!"

 

"Oh don't I?" Hyunwoo said with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

 

"No, you don't! That's unprofessional and uncalled for-"

 

"I think it was very called for. That dumbass can't even do the simplest moves correctly and refuses to listen to my instructions. I told you guys at the beginning that if you didn't treat me as a leader I would be pissed, but that seems not to have sunk into your subpar brains. And don't speak to me in that tone," Hyunwoo said with a poke to Donghyuck's chest, "or I'll have to punish you too."

 

Jisung looked close to tears at this point. The situation was unbearably stressful: his best friend on the floor, his hyung being yelled at, and the utter helplessness he felt due to the fear of being pushed around himself. Renjun, on the other hand, was fuming. How dare this man come in here for the first time and treat his friends like dirt? He was about to him let him know a piece of his mind when Hyunwoo did his signature sharp clap again.

 

"From this point on, I've decided that each mistake you guys make will be worth five pushups. Chenle here has made six, so he'll be doing 30 pushups starting now." Chenle just blinked wondrously in response, but when Hyunwoo turned his gaze towards him, he quickly got into position and started doing pushups. "Talking back to me like Donghyuck has will be considered a mistake worth 10." Hyunwoo then looked at Hyuck with an expression that could only be described as disgust, clearly prompting him to start his own set of pushups which Donghyuck complied with. "Do the rest of you understand?" He was met with four hesitant nods. "Okay. We're finished for today. I can't deal with you guys any longer."

 

The boys waited for a moment before stepping out of formation, in case Hyunwoo would see it as a mistake, but soon were heading to the edges of the practice room to pack up their stuff. Chenle finished his pushups before puliing himself off the floor, arms aching as he joined Jisung in the corner, who quickly started a hushed conversation asking if his hyung was okay. Chenle just whispered that he wanted to be distracted, so Jisung made the easy decision to play games once they got home.

 

Jeno didn't get far from his position before his shoulder was grabbed roughly from behind. He was swiftly turned around to be face-to-face with Hyunwoo, who leaned in close to whisper in Jeno's ear.

 

"You're doing great, pretty boy. I'll be nice to you as long as you maintain that frame for me, okay?" Hyunwoo then pushed him back towards his stuff, leaving Jeno shivering, eyes shaking in fear for the second time that day. Jaemin quickly noticed the boy's frozen stature, calmly walking over to give a soft "Let's go" before pulling him towards the door, not missing Hyunwoo's lingering gaze on his boyfriend's body. He frowned before following the rest of his members out of the practice room.

 

 

_*present*_

* * *

**_  
_**

 

 

"Jaemin-ah, I don't like him."

 

"I know, baby, I know. I don't think any of us do," Jaemin says quietly into Jeno's hair. He refused to let go of his boyfriend even after they had been on the couch for half an hour. Donghyuck had returned a few minutes earlier to coax them back into their rooms to sleep, but Jaemin had just shaken his head in response, opting to stay with Jeno all night in the living room if that's what he needed.

 

"What did he say to you? At the end of practice, when you were shaken up, what had he said?"

 

"It's not important." Jeno replied, voice muffled as he buried his head further into Jaemin's chest.

 

"Yes it is. I don't like seeing you scared like that, Jeno."

 

"I'll be fine. Just forget it."

 

"Did he call you pretty again?"

 

"Please stop asking about it." Jeno's voice started to break, signaling that he was about to start crying, a signal that broke whatever drive Jaemin had to get information out of his boyfriend.

 

"Okay. I'll stop," Jaemin said. He didn't know what words would help anymore. He just hugged Jeno tighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i need to get better at synonyms, sorry! at least the hyungs might show up in the next chapter! or maybe just mark will, i don't know. we also might get to see more of jeno's perspective!


	3. Touch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: this chapter will contain non-consensual touching, nothing overtly sexual but definitely uncomfortable. if that's something triggering to you, i suggest not reading the section starting with "Hyunwoo was waiting, perched on the speaker in the corner of the room" and ending with "Jeno sank to the floor."

 

Practice went on for at least a week in just the vain Hyunwoo had described: every mistake they made earned pushups, which they all carried out once Hyunwoo let them go for the day. He had decided that taking time away from actually learning the moves was not practical and so moved punishments to the end of class. It was actually sort of relieving. Hyunwoo yelled less and less as the week went on. He would just firmly explain how to reposition or do the moves right and then keep track of the mistakes to dole out pushups later.

 

Well, that's what he did for most of the boys. Jeno never got any pushups.

 

He definitely made mistakes, maybe even more than the others, but he never got pushups. He might be grateful for that if it didn't come at the expense of how Hyunwoo personally scolded him. Usually he would just shout from the front of the room how one of the dreamies had to change up a move, but not with Jeno. Hyunwoo would personally walk over and adjust Jeno himself, sometimes leaving his fingers on Jeno's body for much longer than necessary. Jeno would wince every time this happens, at first protesting:

 

"I can do it by myself, hyung. You can just tell me from the front of the room like everyone else."

 

But Hyunwoo would just shush him, claiming "You never get it right when I do that." Jeno wanted to say that he had in fact never done that, so how could he know? But at this point he'd taken to just being silent. It was the better option. When Jeno resisted, Hyunwoo's temper would rise and it would end up with worse conditions for his friends, and Jeno absolutely despised seeing the tired, aching forms of his members that only got worse after every class.

 

Then one day, Taeyong came to visit. This was something the older hyungs did often when they had free days, especially Taeyong, who claimed that he needed to take care of the "babies" more than anyone else since he was the leader. The dreamies hated being called babies, but would never refuse Taeyong's practically-gourmet lunch boxes. Taeyong sat happily watching his younger members munch on their kimbap rolls, paying no attention to Hyunwoo, who was staring daggers at the group from the corner of the room. Once the teenagers were finished with their lunch, Hyunwoo waved them back to the center of the floor. The man sent Taeyong an ill glare, a glare that would warn anyone on the recieving end to _get out now_. Taeyong didn't appear to notice it, though. He announced he would stay and monitor the practice, earning an especially wide smile from Chenle and grateful ones from everyone else besides Hyunwoo.

 

As the class went on, Taeyong shouted out praises and suggestions from the side of the room. The dreamies were all thankful for the reassurance that they could at least do some things right and for the positive, helpful tone that Taeyong used when making any comments. Jisung was constantly scared that Hyunwoo would yell at them again and ruin the good atmosphere their hyung had made, but the man seemed to be restricting himself. He only spoke when someone did a move clearly wrong, and apparently decided to forgo pushups for the day. Jeno was relieved. Taeyong being there meant Hyunwoo stayed to the front basically all day, meaning he didn't get touched and his friends didn't get hurt, a situation he was very glad to avoid.

 

But nothing good can last.

 

A few hours later, Hyunwoo ended practice, thanking Taeyong for supporting the dreamies in a fake, overly sugary voice. Renjun cringed at the man's tone, but Taeyong didn't suspect anything odd. Why would he? For all he knows, Hyunwoo was the calmest choreographer NCT had had yet.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The mood was high when the dreamies returned to their dorm that night. No one was aching, scared, or mad, which to Jaemin meant that it was a "cook the best goddamn ramen ever" for his friends night. The rest of the group gathered in the living room while Jaemin cooked. Donghyuck and Chenle fought over what drama to watch while Renjun tried once again to convince an unfocused Jisung that aliens were real. Jeno was laughing at Chenle's struggle to win over the remote when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He unlocked the screen to find a new text from an unknown number.

 

 

> _**Unknown (7:17 pm):** _
> 
> _It's Hyunwoo_
> 
> _Come to the practice room at 11_
> 
> _Alone_

 

Jeno's eyes widened, sitting up straight while simultaneously hiding his phone screen from the others' view.

 

 

> **_Jeno (7:18 pm):_ **
> 
> _What the hell_
> 
> _How did you get my number_?

 

> _**Hyunwoo (7:19 pm):** _
> 
> _Taeyong gave me all of your numbers_

> _I asked for his to consult him on a dance move I was working on then went from there_

> _No matter how fucking annoying he is he's got good taste_

 

Jeno didn't know how to respond. He was horrified. How could this day turn around so quickly? His boyfriend was in the kitchen making an amazing-smelling ramen, his friends were all having fun, and yet here this was, sinking Jeno's mood faster than the Titanic.

 

 

> _**Hyunwoo (7:21 pm):** _
> 
> _If you don't come I might have to ask Taeyong to instead  
>  _

> _He sure is cute_

 

> **_Jeno (7:22 pm):_ **

> _No no no_

> _I'll be there_

__**  
** _ _

There was no way Jeno was gonna let this creep anywhere near his hyung. No _fucking_ way...

 

"Jeno-ya? Are you okay?"

 

"Huh?"

 

Jaemin had walked into the room, carrying the boiling pot of ramen in his gloved hands. He had stopped short when he noticed his boyfriend's distant eyes, staring at his phone as though he was staring at a black hole, obviously concerned.

 

"Oh. Yeah. I'm good, thanks."

 

Jaemin furrowed his brow, but at this point the other boys were noticing the tension in the room, so he decided not to press. He set the ramen pot down on the little coffee table in the center of the room.

 

"Here's dinner. I'll grab some bowls and chopsticks, hold on," he said and rushed off to the kitchen again. Jeno looked at the pile of delicious ramen, unable to focus as he grew more concerned for the night ahead of him.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Jeno snuck out at 11. His friends were busy either getting ready to sleep or relaxing and playing games. Everyone was distracted enough that he could slip out unnoticed, grabbing a face mask, coat, and sliding on his shoes quickly and quietly before trekking to the SM building. At the practice room Hyunwoo was waiting, perched on the speaker in the corner of the room.

 

“Pretty boy finally showed up! You’re a bit late, aren’t you?” he said, jumping to the ground.

 

“Sorry," Jeno murmered, head down as to not meet Hyunwoo's piercing eyes. Hyunwoo started approaching him, Jeno taking a step back for every forward step Hyunwoo made, eventually backing himself into a wall. Hyunwoo grazed his fingers over Jeno's cheek, head tilting to the side as he smiled at the younger.

 

"A face as beautiful as yours shouldn't be covered by a mask, Jeno-ya." Jeno winced at the nickname, normally only used by Jaemin. Hyunwoo ripped off Jeno's mask and threw it to the other side of the room. Jeno's eyes focused on the floor.

 

"That's better. Damn, how can someone be so young yet so handsome? When I was a teenager I really had it rough," he said with a chuckle. "But you're just so pretty. Must be luck." Hyunwoo pulled off Jeno's coat and began to run his hand down the boy's face, to his neck, down his chest. He was trying to lift Jeno's shirt before his hand was caught by Jeno's own.

 

"H-Hyunwoo hyung, what are you doing..." Jeno stuttered out.

 

"Shut up. Just let it happen and I promise you'll feel good." Jeno did not like the sound of that. Hyunwoo let his hands roam Jeno's body, wandering over his arm, thighs, face, before leaning in to kiss his neck. Jeno shoved him off.

 

"Please stop, hyung. I don't like that." A loud, sharp sound echoed off the walls of the practice room as Hyunwoo slapped Jeno's face, knocking his gaze to the side. He took the opportunity to kiss Jeno's exposed neck again, pressing him hard against the wall. Jeno held his breath and closed his eyes, wishing he was literally anywhere else, but the hands kept feeling him all over and there was the omnipresent wetness of Hyunwoo's lips on his neck that kept Jeno trapped in reality. He didn't even know how long it was before Hyunwoo stopped.

 

"Thanks, beautiful. Been a while since I had someone as cute as you to touch. Go home okay? Get some rest," he whispered with a sickening smile, hand releasing painfully from Jeno's hair. He walked out the door with a gross little skip. Jeno sank to the floor.

 

_Jaemin_ …

What would Jaemin think…

Was this cheating?

_No_.

No, it wasn’t.

Jeno didn’t want to be touched like that. If he didn't want it, what Hyunwoo had done to him didn't make him a cheater. Right? Jeno didn't know.

 

_This was all because he was pretty._

 

Jeno didn't want to be pretty anymore.

His whole life he was praised for his looks, how attractive his features and especially his eye-smile were. It always gave him confidence. He had wanted to be pretty for himself, for the nctizens who loved him, for Jaemin... but now he just wanted every single handsome thing about himself gone.

 

Hyunwoo had ruined it.

 

He didn’t know what to do. He didn't want to go back to the dorms. He didn't want to see Jaemin yet. He felt...dirty. And then he remembered: when in doubt, call Doyoung.

 

Doyoung was the hyung he was closest to, the one who felt like a real brother to him. Doyoung had once said that if Jeno ever needed anything, anything at all, from Oreos to a murder alibi, he just had to call. So he did.

 

“Jeno? It’s late...are you okay?”

 

He didn’t know how to respond.

 

“No. Not really”

 

“What’s wrong? What happened? Are you hurt? Where are you?” Doyoung rattled off, voice getting faster as he grew worried. Jeno's cheek stung a little from being slapped, but he didn’t know if he’d call himself _hurt_. Just...violated.

 

“I'm not hurt. I’m at the practice room. I just don’t want to walk home alone. I uh... I forgot my mask.” Doyoung was skeptical. Jeno was never great at lying, a fact about himself he really regretted at that moment.

 

“Jeno, is that really all? You’re sure you’re not hurt?”

 

“Yes hyung.”

 

“Okay. Okay. I’ll bring you a mask and walk you home, okay? I’ll be there soon.”

 

“Thank you hyung."

 

Jeno hung up the call. He quickly retrieved his coat and stood up, wanting to seem as normal as possible once Doyoung arrived. It was about ten minutes before he did, concerned expression on his face and black mask in his hand. He gifted the mask to Jeno before throwing his arm around the younger's shoulder, troubled once again as he noticed Jeno flinch at the contact. He glanced around the room as he walked Jeno out, frowning as he noticed the other discarded face mask in the corner. Something else had definitely happened that night to make Jeno act so strange, but now was not the time to ask. Doyoung would have to save it for another day. For now, he just had to walk his dongsaeng home safely.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was hard to write agh. sorry i lied about mark being here lol, he'll definitely be in the next one tho. thank you for reading~


	4. Beautiful Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> references to the triggering content from the last chapter appear here (so some references to unwanted touching)

It took almost half an hour for Doyoung to bring Jeno back to the Dream dorm, the two trudging along the dark Seoul roads in silence the whole way. Usually it was about a 10 minute walk, but Doyoung took the younger boy around a different route, hoping to give him more time to calm down and process whatever it was he was going through. If Jeno even noticed the detour through the clouds of worry occupying his mind, he didn't mention it.

 

As they stepped up to the door, Doyoung turned Jeno to look at him.

 

"Hey, um, are you doing okay now?"

 

"I've was never not okay, hyung, don't worry!" Jeno said with a big smile, clearly fake. Doyoung didn't know if he should press or not. It was late...maybe he should just let the boy go sleep, give him time to think things over...but then again what was it that he would be troubled about anyway?

 

"I- well. As long as you're sure," Doyoung said slowly.

 

"Yeah. I'm good. Thanks, hyung." Jeno's smile stuck in Doyoung's head as he said goodnight and strode away from the boy, heading back to 127's own dorm. Jeno must have been hiding something, right? The discarded mask, the fake smile, the flinches whenever Doyoung accidentally brushed shoulders with him, it all must add up to something. But Doyoung just didn't know what.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Jeno creaked open the door, stepping into the doorway quietly and carefully as to not accidentally rouse anybody. He wasn't sure what time it was, but he assumed that since the lights were off his friends must at least be trying to sleep by now. He slipped off his shoes and coat and walked slowly towards his room, hoping to make the least amount of noise possible.

 

"Hyung?"

 

Jeno nearly screamed as he turned to see the silhouette of a confused Jisung standing behind him.

 

"What the hell are you doing out here?" Jeno hissed at the younger.

 

"I was getting a snack. Uh..why were you outside?" Jisung didn't even try to keep his voice low, earning a frustrated sigh from Jeno who honestly just wanted to make it to his room without struggle.

 

"I was just getting some fresh air. Go to sleep or whatever," Jeno replied, trudging to his room, leaving Jisung standing lost holding a half-eaten bag of chips.

 

Jeno didn't wash up, didn't change into pajamas, didn't do anything before flopping unceremoniously onto his bed. He couldn't get the night's events out of his head. The way Hyunwoo had touched him...had _kissed_ him, all those feelings were still present, just as they were the entire walk home. He hated it. He wanted to get rid of it. He wanted to run to Jaemin, crawl into his bed and never wake up, but how could he let his boyfriend hold him when he felt so dirty. He couldn't, he just couldn't. So he settled for falling asleep, here and now, alone in his room.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The next room over, Donghyuck laid wide awake in his bed, texting one Mark Lee.

 

> **_Donghyuck (12:44 am):_**
> 
> _Hey_
> 
> _I miss you :(_

 

> _**Mark (12:45 am):** _
> 
> _I miss you too Hyuckie_
> 
> _How is Dream without me haha_

 

Donghyuck wasn't sure how to respond. Of course, Dream wasn't doing too great. Hyunwoo's teaching methods had left them all scared to go to practice, and Hyuck's arms were constantly sore from doing pushups every day (everyone knew he was shit at pushups), and he wanted so badly to rant about it all to his best friend, but he also didn't want to worry him. He struggled a bit before deciding on an answer.

 

> **_Donghyuck (12:47 am):_ **
> 
> _Meh  
>  _
> 
> _The comeback song is good  
>  _
> 
> _I think you would really suit it but whatever_
> 
> _We're all super tired but hey that's SM showbiz for ya_

 

> _**Mark (12:49 am):** _
> 
> _Lol yeah_
> 
> _127 isn't working on anything rn  
>  _
> 
> _Maybe I'll join you guys for practice next week!_
> 
> _Be like old times_

__

No. Nope. Not happening. He wouldn't let Mark see how he just let Hyunwoo push him around, see how he pushed everyone around. They weren't _that_ helpless, right?

 

> **_Donghyuck (12:50 am):_ **
> 
> _Nah_
> 
> _It's not that interesting rn_
> 
> _Just a lot of detail work or whatever  
>  _
> 
> _You should visit the dorm though_
> 
> _Im sure all of us would be happy to see you :)_

 

> _**Mark (12:52 am):** _
> 
> _Cool!_
> 
> _See u soon then haha  
>  _

 

Donghyuck sighed. He only wanted Mark to see him happy. Sure, they had been through anything and everything together as trainees, but he wanted to prove that he was capable of holding his own while promoting without Mark (even if he really wasn't). He fell asleep biting his lip, thinking of how badly things would go if Mark pulled a switch on him and visited the dance practice anyway, something he would totally do. What if Hyunwoo didn't restrict himself like he did with Taeyong? What if he hurt Mark? What if he hurt one of the other dreamies tomorrow, considering he had to act so calm today? Worries plagued him as he drifted off to sleep, hoping desperately to keep his friends safe.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is so short! i wrote it at 4am and wanted to get a markhyuck interaction in before it gets interesting again~~ thank you for reading! comments are always appreciated :)


	5. Mad City

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: violence
> 
> (also if you guys think i should be doing tw's differently, please let me know! i don't want anyone to struggle due to what i write but i'm not sure how to best do this)

It was cold when Jaemin woke up. Awfully cold.

 

Sometimes (more like usually) Jeno would find his way over to Jaemin's bed in the middle of the night. He would never admit it, but he felt most comfortable when Jaemin was cuddling him, so Jaemin had gotten used to the warm feeling of his boyfriend snuggled in his arms in the morning. But not today. He couldn't help but be disappointed. After last night's distressed Jeno, Jaemin was hoping to wake up to his signature eye smile, but then again Jaemin never really got what he wanted.

 

He stepped out of his room, ready to hop in the shower before anyone could beat him to it, but he wasn't two steps out the door before he ran into someone.

 

"Ah! Sorry I just wanted to get to the bathroom quickl— Jeno?"

 

Jeno gave a frightened squeak before he rushed back into his room, leaving Jaemin to wonder if the pinkish mark on Jeno's right cheek was real or if he was seeing things. One shower, thirty minutes, and six prepared bowls of rice later and Jaemin was able to confirm that no, he was not seeing things, and yes, he was furious at whoever or whatever left a mark on his boyfriend's cheek. No one else at the table seemed to notice it, but then again they were in a bit of a hurry and Jeno kept his head down, completely focused on the food. Jaemin decided to confront him after breakfast when everyone else would be too busy getting ready to hear them.

 

After all the boys had brought their dishes to the sink to be forgotten until later, Jaemin pulled Jeno aside in the hallway, not missing Jeno's panicked expression one bit.

 

"Jeno-ya, what's wrong with your cheek..." Jaemin asked softly, bringing his hand up to point to the mark, an action that made Jeno flinch.

 

"Nothing's wrong, just slept weird," Jeno replied quickly then squirmed out of Jaemin's grip, pulling up his hood as he resided to his room yet again. Jaemin sighed and wrung his hands together. There's no fucking way he just slept weird. Jeno didn't hide things from him, so why was he now?

 

Jeno, on the other hand, rummaged through his drawers trying to find the tube of concealer one of the stylists had given him when he had a bruise on his leg he was supposed to cover a couple comebacks ago. He swore he had kept it, but where had he—Oh! There it was. Jeno pulled it out and turned to the mirror in the corner of the room. He dabbed a bit on his cheek, smoothing it out to seamlessly cover the mark that was there. He wouldn't fool Jaemin, but at least no one else would question him about it. He could think up a better lie for Jaemin later.

 

"Come on Jeno hyung we're going to be late!" Chenle shouted from the hallway. Jeno gave a quick sound of acknowledgment and checked his face once more before heading out of the dorm with the rest of his members.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

Jeno felt queasy as the group approached the practice room door. He thought he'd be fine, that a night of good sleep would help him forget about what happened just last night in this very room, but apparently not. Donghyuck pushed the door open and the boys started filing in, but Jeno stood still, frozen to the spot.

 

"You good?" Donghyuck asked fairly playfully, and Jeno only hesitated a second more before stepping through the door being held open for him. To his relief, Hyunwoo hadn't arrived yet. Chenle and Jisung had taken to playing hand games in the corner, Jaemin was organizing all their stuff, and Donghyuck was now running around trying to make Renjun laugh. Jeno joined him, unsure of what else to do with himself beside stare at the spot on the wall where he was pinned just a few hours earlier.

 

A few minutes later Hyunwoo entered. No one noticed. Not until his booming voice attacked their ears.

 

"Get into position for the second chorus. Now."

 

They did. They had come to learn that time was of the essence with Hyunwoo.

 

"No bullshit today. No fucking around, no mistakes. I'm not in the mood to correct anyone."

 

The boys glanced around at each other, coming to a silent agreement that something was off with Hyunwoo—even more than usual—and to do everything as best they could. And yet, no matter how much they tried to be perfect as they went through the choreography over and over, eventually someone had to make a mistake. Today, that person was Jaemin. All he did was trip, and he swiftly brought himself back into position, but Hyunwoo didn't miss the slip-up. Of course he didn't.

 

Hyunwoo let out a low sound that could only be described as a growl before turning on his heel and walking starkly over to Jaemin, who looked up at the man in front of him in fear before falling to the side as a vigorous punch landed painfully on his face. Chenle screeched. Jisung flinched and stepped backward. Donghyuck and Renjun ran over towards the tall, imposing man who had just hurt their friend, but Jeno couldn't make his body move.

 

Renjun and Donghyuck caught Hyunwoo's arms as he lifted his foot to kick Jaemin, dragging him back a few feet. The man shook them off easily with a grunt before making his way back and kicking Jaemin square in the stomach with his heavy boot. The young boy let out a pained scream and curled in on himself. Jisung turned away, Chenle instinctively moving closer to him. Jeno still couldn't move. _Why wouldn't he move?_ He just stood there and watched as Hyunwoo delivered two more kicks to his boyfriend's abdomen before Renjun regained his balance and stepped in Hyunwoo's path.

 

"What the fuck are you doing!?" Renjun spat in the man's face.

 

"I told you I was NOT in the mood to correct anyone, didn't I? Get out of the fucking way!" He knocked Renjun to the side, getting pushed himself as Donghyuck finally got up.

 

"No one cares what mood you're in! You're a teacher and you have to act like one! Pushups are fine, but this is not!" Donghyuck was fuming. He wasn't kidding. This was on a whole new level. Hyunwoo turned his gaze from Jaemin on the floor to Donghyuck, then Renjun, finally landing on Jeno. He smiled at Jeno in the sickening kind of way that only he could do before shoving Donghyuck over Jaemin's form and into the wall, grabbing him by the neck. Chenle screamed but Jisung's tight, terrified hold on him kept him from running towards his hyung. Donghyuck struggled under Hyunwoo's grip, trying desperately to push him off, every second getting harder to breathe.

 

Jeno stayed unmoving.

 

He looked around. He saw his boyfriend still curled up on the floor, face wrinkled in pain. He saw Renjun sitting helplessly a few feet away. He saw Chenle and Jisung huddling together in the corner, eyes wide in fear. He saw Donghyuck pinned against the wall, being choked by Hyunwoo...choked... oh fuck fuck fuck.

 

Jeno's body moved without his comprehension. He marched over to Hyunwoo and grabbed the man's hand, pulling it cleanly off of Donghyuck's neck, making the vocalist sink to the ground, awful gurgling noises raking his throat as he fought to inhale oxygen.

 

"Hyunwoo hyung, please stop," Jeno whispered, voice oddly calm and low. He couldn't even hear himself, but Hyunwoo definitely could. He smirked.

 

"Sure, Jeno-ya. I'll stop for you." He grazed his fingers over Jeno's cheek, wiping off some of the concealer left there before letting him go.

 

"Let's be done for today! You all were doing great until that dumb fuck over there ruined it for you! Have a good rest and be even better tomorrow, everyone!" Hyunwoo said in a scarily cheery voice before heading out the practice room door, leaving the dreamies at a loss for words.

 

It was still for a while. Donghyuck was still trying to catch his breath. Jaemin was still burrowed into himself, face scrunched in discomfort. Chenle was still holding Jisung, who looked like he was about to have a panic attack from stress and guilt. Renjun was still seated on the floor, trying to process what just happened. Finally, he realized that his friend needed help, needed it like right now. He scrambled to his feet and rushed to Donghyuck's side, trying his best to coach him into breathing properly. Jeno just stared at Jaemin. His body had reverted and he couldn't move again. Jeno wanted to help. He wanted to run and hold Jaemin in his arms until he wasn't in pain. He wanted to take that ghastly grimace off his boyfriend's face. He wanted them to be the only two people in the universe. He wanted to apologize for not stopping Hyunwoo earlier. He wanted to apologize for not protecting him.

 

Why _hadn't_ he stopped Hyunwoo earlier?

 

Jaemin was trying to sit up at this point with the help of Renjun, who had finished helping Donghyuck catch his breath. Donghyuck was now sitting against the wall, staring at the ceiling and breathing slowly, coughing ever so often. Jaemin let out little cries every time his stomach had to move in an awkward angle in order to sit up. Renjun kept turning his face to wipe away tears. Jeno just kept standing.

 

What the fuck should he do now?

 

All of his friends were either in physical or emotional pain, and he had no idea what to do.

 

Jeno's legs gave out. He dropped to his hands and knees and started sobbing.

 

What had _happened_ to them?

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

No one talked on the way home. The last sound made was when Renjun asked if Jaemin could walk by himself and the other boy had nodded. Chenle had helped Jisung to stand up, and Donghyuck had hugged Jeno's crumpled form before holding his hand to bring him to a standing position as well. Then all of the boys left the room in silence, supporting each other and walking slowly as to not over-exert themselves. They had been let out early, so they didn't have a car ready to bring them back to the dorms. They trekked the 10 minute walk absorbed in their own thoughts and luckily weren't disturbed by any fans. Once they entered the dorm, all of the boys slumped to the floor or couch in the living room. It was silent for a bit more before Renjun spoke up.

 

"I'll get us some food."

 

He stood after making sure Jaemin was stable, heading to the kitchen and grabbing a few containers of kimchi before returning to his friends. A permanent frown was stuck on all of their faces. Renjun handed out the food and sat back down. Chenle started feeding Jisung, who was still too shaken up to really comprehend what was going on. Donghyuck didn't feel ready to swallow anything and Jaemin just shifted around the kimchi in the container, not eating any.

 

"We can't deal with this alone," Renjun, always the voice of reason, spoke into the silence again.

 

He earned nods from Hyuck and Jaemin. Jeno seemed to be completely stuck in his own mind while Hyuck rubbed his shoulder reassuringly.

 

"I'll call Taeyong."

 

"No," Jeno declared suddenly, startling Renjun who had already pulled out his phone.

 

"What? Why?" Jaemin said, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

 

"Just...not yet, okay? Give me a bit to figure this out. If I can't, we can call Taeyong."

 

"Jeno-ya, what are you even talking about?"

 

"Trust me. Hyunwoo listened to me today. I can talk to him. I can keep this from happening again," Jeno sighed, trying to think of a solution to keep his friend safe while also preventing Hyunwoo from going after Taeyong or any of the other hyungs. He had an awful feeling that that was a strong possibility  


 

"Fuck no. You are not going to confront that man at all. I can't let you get hurt," Donghyuck said very clearly.

 

"Look, I'm serious. Trust me."

 

Jeno got up and stepped out to the hallway, leaving his friends to stare in awe at him as he disappeared into his room.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry for this
> 
> also do y'all like that each title is an nct song? i kinda love it


	6. Interlude: Regular to Irregular

The 127 dorm had been quiet recently. They had some much-needed free time and for most of the members that just meant chilling by themselves in the dorm. It was hard to get into hobbies or anything when they just had to forfeit them again every new comeback to focus on work. Yesterday, they had gone to see Bohemian Rhapsody for maybe the fifth (sixth?) time, but today there were no activities planned. Fortunately, that left Doyoung a lot of time to his thoughts. As he spent the day in his bedroom listening to music and thinking, his mind refused to budge from the weird way Jeno was acting two nights ago.

 

Jeno was acting weird.

 

 _Jeno_ was acting weird?

 

Doyoung had only ever known Jeno to be a typical kid, basically a younger brother, and maybe even more reserved than most boys his age. He had always been consistent. Jeno was truly a no-fun right from the day the two met. Doyoung had never seen Jeno's personality stray...so why was he acting weird?

 

Why was he in the practice room?

 

Why did he lie about needing a mask?

 

It didn't make sense.

 

Doyoung shook his head and forced himself up. It had been a while since he had moved, and he never actually enjoyed lounging for too long. He headed into the kitchen and saw Taeyong preparing some food, airpods flooding classical music into his ears. As he snuck past his hyung to grab a cup of water, he remembered fondly their trainee days when Taeyong would make up ridiculous yet beautiful improv dances to his favorite classical songs. It was always amusing for the other trainees to watch, but their instructors often tutted at what they deemed a "waste of time". He filled up his cup and headed out to the living room, finding Mark Lee spread out on the couch, frowning at his phone.

 

"Scooch up, kid," Doyoung said, tapping Mark's knee and cueing the boy to give him some room to sit. "What's the face for?"

 

"Honestly, I don't even know, hyung," Mark replied, exasperated. He pinched his fingers together on the screen, zooming out on an image before handing it to Doyoung. "Does this seem weird to you at all?"

 

Doyoung took the phone and examined the picture onscreen. It was a cute selfie of Donghyuck, laying stomach-down on his bed with a hoodie tugged up around his neck and his bangs hanging over his eyes. He had drawn yellow hearts all over the picture before sending it to Mark. It was adorable. Doyoung really couldn't see anything wrong with it.

 

"No? Why?"

 

Mark pulled Doyoung's hand over so that they could both see the photo at the same time. He pointed at the neckline of Donghyuck's hoodie.

 

"Doesn't it look dark there to you? Like, worse than just bad lighting, or something? I don't know...like a bruise?"

 

Doyoung's eyebrows raised in concern, lifting the phone to see better and zooming in where Mark had pointed. Donghyuck had gotten the hoodie to loosely cover the majority of his neck, but Mark was right; there was definitely something there that didn't seem to be a product of the lighting. Doyoung started to overthink immediately.

 

"I see it. That's weird. And not good. Not good at all actually. Did you ask him about it?" Mark shook his head.

 

"No, I didn't want to say anything unless I was sure. Should I now?"

 

"I think so, yeah. Tell me what he says okay? I'm worried now." Doyoung patted Mark on the shoulder with a troubled expression before leaving him to his texting. First Jeno was acting strange, and now this...

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

"Fuck..." Donghyuck whispered under his breath as a text from Mark came in asking if something was wrong with his neck. His plan hadn't worked at all. He was hoping that showing Mark that he was happy and doing well would keep him from visiting the dorm for a bit. They didn't have practice, since it was a Saturday, so the dreamies were stuck in their dorms recovering from yesterday. He really didn't want Mark to see the state they were in.

 

Donghyuck's neck had started to seriously bruise from the force Hyunwoo put into choking him and Jaemin's pain today was only growing worse. He could barely move around and whined whenever he tried to do so, a sound that made Jisung visibly close to tears every time he heard it. No one had seen Jeno all day. Renjun put all his effort into trying to make Jaemin comfortable while Chenle did the same for Jisung, knowing what was truly making the kid so badly affected even though he hadn't be hurt himself. All the dreamies understood why, actually, but Chenle was closest to the maknae and therefore took it upon himself to support Jisung the most.

 

It was well known to his team members, the company, and even the nctizens that Jisung didn't have many friends at school. None at all, actually. His status as a debuted idol only isolated him further. A while ago, around We Young era, Jisung had started to be bullied in school, with shoving, name-calling, and a couple times when Jisung had been punched. The situation seriously affected the sensitive boy, but he didn't tell anyone at first. Jisung was never one to draw attention to himself unless he was dancing, but eventually the hyungs found out when they saw one of the bullies push their maknae onto the ground when they decided to pick him up from school one day. They had confronted him later, and Jisung still remembers the whines that came out of his own mouth as he cried about the situation in Chenle's arms while Yuta had tended to some of his bruises.

 

The hyungs, especially Johnny (who was furious at the treatment of one of his favorite dongsaengs), had urged him to go to the company to get the situation fixed, but SM had only suggested that Jisung keep a lower profile and avoid the people who hurt him at school. They felt that anything they could do would only increase Jisung's ostracization, and Jisung didn't have the heart to say he'd rather be lonely than fearful, so he just accepted it. He told the hyungs about the meeting, but they couldn't risk doing anything themselves to the bullies without potentially ruining their image (despite Johnny's protests). Everyone in NCT was told to not mess around physically with Jisung too much, and luckily the bullying stopped fairly soon after that as the students got bored. However, the situation taught everyone that their problems were never going to be easily solved by their company, and the dreamies learned that their hyungs weren't all-powerful.

 

Donghyuck had tried to make the atmosphere in the dorm lighter; that's what a Full Sun should do, right? But between the pain he felt in his throat every time he laughed and the deep glares Renjun threw at him with every pun, his attempts died down quickly. That was when he decided to text Mark, believing that a surprise visit right now would be the worst-case scenario for everyone. But now he had to think up a lie, seeing as he didn't cover the bruise as well as he thought.

 

> _**Mark (6:05 pm):** _
> 
> _Donghyuck-ah..._
> 
> _I don't wanna be rude but uh_
> 
> _Is there something wrong with your neck?_

 

> _**Donghyuck (6:08 pm):** _
> 
> _Haha nope  
>  _
> 
> _My bedroom just has shitty lighting lol  
>  _
> 
> _Don't worry :D_

 

> _**Mark (6:09 pm):** _
> 
> _Um_
> 
> _Okay_
> 
> _I guess  
>  _

 

Fuuuuuck. Of course he didn't believe that; Mark Lee wasn't an idiot. Ugh.

 

Donghyuck tossed his phone to the side before leaving the room. He didn't really have anything else to say to Mark right now anyway. As he noticed the time, he headed to the kitchen to prepare some dinner. Jaemin probably wasn't in a good enough state to do it right then.

 

After a while once the food was done, he called the other boys over to eat. The dreamies shuffled into the kitchen to grab bowls and chopsticks. Once they were all sitting down, however, the one empty chair stuck out like a sore thumb: Jeno's chair.

 

"I'll go get him," Chenle decided. "You guys start eating." He stood up before heading towards Jeno's room, knocking on the door twice before calling out a concerned, "Jeno hyung? Are you in there?"

 

No response.

 

Chenle knocked twice more.

 

"Jeno hyung, we're eating kimbap. Shouldn't you at least come eat with us?"

 

Still no response. Chenle sighed before returning to the table.

 

"I don't think he's coming." Chenle announced before sitting back down. Jaemin's head started racing. Yes, they had all been through some awful shit yesterday, but Jeno didn't miss meals. That boy loved to eat. _Loved_. Jaemin took it upon himself to confront his boyfriend about this as soon as he finished dinner.

 

Once he had tried to help clean up (Renjun had refused to let him assist while he was in pain), Jaemin made his way over to Jeno's room and, like Chenle, tried knocking.

 

"Jeno-ya, please come out. Or let me in. Or anything really. I want to talk to you," Jaemin sulked through the door. He too got no response.

 

"Jeno, seriously. I really need to talk, okay?" Jaemin tried again, tone getting lower. When Jeno still gave no response, Jaemin twisted the door handle, swinging the entrance to the room open only to find it empty.

 

_Shit._

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry that this is so short! the title of interlude really fits well lol
> 
> i'm planning to go back and fix up all the previous chapters (for better grammar, smoother reading, etc.) this week sometime before working on the next chapter (which will be much longer and much more...intense) so yeh
> 
> sorry that timing is a bit strange in all of this too. that's one thing i'm hoping to change when i edit this week~


	7. Black on Black

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: violence, sexual harassment and implied sexual assault  
> a summary of the chapter will be in the end notes for those who need it. please be careful, okay?

Jeno had a bad night.

 

Well, none of the dreamies had a particularly great night. But Jeno's was _bad_.

 

As soon as he had flopped down onto his cold bed, Jeno immediately regretted his decision to face Hyunwoo alone. He wasn't dumb. He knew what a confrontation with the man would likely entail and Jeno would really have preferred not to have anyone touch his body like Hyunwoo had ever again. It was nothing like how Jaemin would touch him, how Jaemin would hold him. Jaemin was soft. He was careful. He only did what Jeno wanted and never more. But Hyunwoo didn't give two shits about what Jeno wanted. Didn't Jeno deserve to be taken care of like how Jaemin did? Didn't Jeno deserve to have a choice in how he was handled?

 

Well, this _was_ his choice, wasn't it?

 

He had chosen to take this upon himself. He had chosen that being fawned over in a way he didn't like was better than one of his friends or hyungs having the same fate. He could handle it. He could take care of this for them. He would let Hyunwoo do anything he wanted if it meant he could protect his members, his brothers. He could. He would. He just needed to breathe for a second...

 

Okay.

Now.

 

Jeno pulled out his phone and navigated to the messaging app, quickly entering the chat marked "Hyunwoo".

 

> _**Jeno (8:51 pm):** _
> 
> _Hyunwoo hyung, we need to talk_

 

> _**Hyunwoo (8:53 pm):** _
> 
> _Jeno-ya!  
>  _
> 
> _What do you need, baby?  
>  _

 

Jeno shuddered at the gross nickname. His hands started to shake, making typing difficult. He was going to be confident though. Confident, persuasive, and final.

 

> _**Jeno (8:54 pm):** _
> 
> _You hurt my friends_
> 
> _And I don't like that_
> 
> _So you need to stopp  
>  _
> 
>  

The phone had slipped through Jeno's quivering fingers, leaving a pathetic spelling mistake and making him curse. So much for confident.

 

> _****Hyunwoo (8:56 pm):**** _
> 
> _Oh?  
>  _
> 
> _Do I need to stop?  
>  _
> 
> _But sweetie all I did was in response to their mistakes!_
> 
> _Jaemin fucked up a move. You know he always does_
> 
> _Do you really expect me to let that go?_
> 
> _I need you all to be perfect for when you finally start performing_
> 
> _Of course you already are perfect though, Jeno-ya  ; )_
> 
> _And that dumbass Donghyuck questioned my authority_
> 
> _He deserved what he got_
> 
> _You understand now?_

 

Water started to prick at Jeno's eyes. He hated the way this man talked about his friends so, _so_ much. But he understood the man's reasoning. Jaemin did make a mistake. Hyuck did talk rudely. All that happened, but it didn't make physical punishment okay, not even a little bit.

 

> _****Jeno (8:59 pm):** ** _
> 
> _That doesn't make hurting them okay_

 

> _****Hyunwoo (9:00 pm):**** _

> _Ah Jeno...  
>  _
> 
> _Why don't you come to the practice room later  
>  _
> 
> _I'll explain for you better then, okay?_
> 
> _: )_

 

There it was, the invitation he knew was coming. Jeno shuddered but he couldn't refuse. He wouldn't. He needed to protect everyone, and this was the way to do that. So he sent a confirmation message, telling Hyunwoo he would be there at 3 am, when he was sure that none of the other dreamies would be awake to stop him.

 

The wait was agonizing. Every minute that passed increased his urge to either run and hug Jaemin, tell Renjun to call Taeyong, or just disappear altogether. But he couldn't. He just sat there, waiting, staring at the clock until the bright red numbers flashed 2:40 am at him.

 

Jeno opened his door as quietly as he could, just enough to slip out into the hallway. He sneaked to the main doorway, grabbing some shoes and a coat and leaving the dorm behind, taking one last look at the closed door behind him before he set off. It was like déjà vu as he made his way to the SM building, trying to convince himself that he was ready. But his heart was pumping way too fast, assuring him that he was not.

 

He somehow stumbled to the practice room in his worry-hazed state, discovering the room to be vacant when he pushed open the heavy door. The wash of relief that flooded over him was ecstatic, thinking that he had at least a couple more minutes to mentally prepare, but that didn't pan out. Hyunwoo had just entered the room terrifyingly silently, and upon seeing Jeno facing away from him took the opportunity to backhug him, wrapping his arms around the young boy's torso firmly.

 

"Pretty boy isn't late this time. Must have been excited to see me, weren't you, Jeno-ya," the man said as he snaked one of his hands up to tangle itself in Jeno's hair while the other one roamed underneath the boy's shirt.

 

Jeno already felt like screaming and it had only been, what, thirty seconds? He stayed silent, though, closing his eyes and trying to pretend that he was still at the dorm wrapped in his blankets. But as Hyunwoo's hands retreated from his body only to pull off his coat and harshly turn him around, the fantasy shattered.

 

"Can we just talk, please? I need you to stop hurting—"

 

"Not now, baby," Hyunwoo shushed, placing a hand over Jeno's mouth before tracing his lips with one rough finger. "We can talk later. This is much more fun." The man leaned in, and to Jeno's horror he pressed his thin, moist lips against Jeno's own.

 

The idol had promised himself that he'd let whatever Hyunwoo wanted happen if that's what kept him occupied and not concerned with any other NCT member, but this was already getting to be too much. He barely even kissed Jaemin often, and this feeling was so different and repulsive and gross and Jeno just needed it to stop. His hands flew up to Hyunwoo's shoulders and he detached himself from the man, expression of pure shock and upset gracing his face.

 

Hyunwoo's face, however, had neither of those expressions. His face held exactly two awful emotions that blended together into the scariest visage Jeno had ever seen. His eyes were swirling in pure anger, but his lips were smirking with desire.

 

"Jeno-ya, what's wrong? You don't like it?"

 

"N-no. I don't." Jeno's voice quivered as he stepped back, unconsciously trying to distance himself as much as possible from the man in front of him. "Please stop. I just want to talk."

 

"I don't feel like talking. I feel like touching that beautiful hair and kissing those beautiful lips and feeling your beautiful body shaking under my grasp until you can't take it anymore. Doesn't that sound better than talking, sweetheart? Doesn't that sound fun? Doesn't that sound amazing?" By the end of his speech, Hyunwoo's tone has gone from a sensual murr to a gravelly yell as he pried Jeno's trembling hands away from his sides and twisted his wrists painfully, ignoring the gasp the escaped from Jeno's mouth. "Don't you want to feel good, Jeno-ya? Don't you want to help me feel good?"

 

Jeno couldn't respond. His voice was stuck in his throat, hitched there by the utter terror shooting through his entire body. He did not want to make Hyunwoo feel good. He wanted to scream and run out the door and out the building and down the street and out of the country and disappear into thin air if that meant Hyunwoo wouldn't try to make him "feel good". He needed to get out, fast. So he kneed Hyunwoo in the groin, taking advantage and wrestling his wrists from the man's grasp as he doubled over. Jeno ran towards the door, hopes of getting away crushed when Hyunwoo caught up and grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling him backward. Jeno let out strangled cries as he was dragged to the other side of the dark room and deposited in the corner. Hyunwoo's murderous expression was all he could comprehend before a hardhanded punch landed on his left cheek, forcing his gaze to the side.

 

"You little bitch! I invite you here so we can get along better and you fucking hurt me? You try to fucking run away? Oh fuck, no. You're not going anywhere, asshole," Hyunwoo seethed as he tugged Jeno's face up to look him in the eye. "You're staying with me until I feel more pleasure than I ever have, until I've used every ounce of you up and there's no sparkle left. Got that, pretty boy?"

 

Hyunwoo hurled two strong punches at Jeno's stomach, effectively knocking the boy to the ground and smiling at the groans of pain that resulted. Hyunwoo squatted down and hit Jeno's left cheek again, relishing in the bright pink that was stretching over the face that was contorted in pain. He stood back up and landed countless kicks on Jeno's abdomen, making him lay and curl in on himself for protection. Hyunwoo pushed the boy over onto his back and straddled over him, sitting on his lower abdomen and hovering his face just inches over Jeno's, close enough to see the tears anxious to spill over the younger's eyes.

 

"You truly are stunning, pretty boy. Such a shame that you don't know how to respect the wishes of your elders," Hyunwoo leaned down and whispered into Jeno's ear before dragging the boy back up to standing position and pinning him against the wall. Much to Jeno's dismay, Hyunwoo ripped off his shirt and admired the bruises that were already starting to blossom on his stomach. Jeno felt nauseous. Hyunwoo started littering kisses across Jeno's entire torso, covering his cheeks, neck, chest, and arms in patches of saliva before he moved back to Jeno's lips, all while pushing the shaking, struggling boy ever harder into the wall behind him. As Hyunwoo forced Jeno's mouth open and started exploring inside, the tears started to spill over. He was shaking like crazy. He felt like he was overheating. He felt like he was going to throw up. He felt like he was going to die.

 

And then all the sudden the hands were gone. The lips were gone. Jeno panted and gross sobs racked his body as he braced his hands on his knees. He looked up into the smirking face of Hyunwoo, who was just staring at his pathetic position.

 

"Please be done..." Jeno squeaked out. Hyunwoo started to laugh.

 

"Done? Sweetie, we haven't even started!" Jeno could only let out one more cry before Hyunwoo pushed him to his knees and started unbuckling his belt.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

"When was the last time any of you saw Jeno?" Jaemin asked as he rushed back to the dinner table after discovering Jeno's empty room.

 

"He wasn't in there?" Donghyuck asked, worry coating his voice.

 

"No. No, he wasn't. It was empty. When was the last time any of you saw Jeno? Answer me!" He voice grew in volume and emotion with every word.

 

"Woah, Jaemin calm down." Renjun tried in the soft yet demanding tone he was so good at, getting up and moving to Jaemin's side.

 

"I can't! Where'd he go? What's he doing? Why won't you answer me?!" He grabbed onto Renjun's shoulders, eyes crazed.

 

"I haven't seen him since last night," Renjun said with as much conviction as he possibly could, pulling Jaemin's hands off his shoulders to hold his hamds comfortingly.

 

"Me neither."

 

"Same here."

 

"Not since last night."

 

With every reply, Jaemin's eyes got foggier. It got harder to breathe. Why was it so hard to breathe...

 

"Jaemin, please calm down," Jisung's voice broke. Seeing his hyungs stressed out was infinitely harder on him than being stressed himself. Chenle stood up to join Renjun and Jaemin and tried to use one of his magical hugs before he was shoved off unceremoniously, stumbling backward.

 

"NO! I won't calm down! Jeno's not here and I don't know where he is so that means he's doing something dumb and that means he's not safe and that means he's probably hurt and I'm not there helping him I'm not there stopping him from being a dumbass and WHY AREN'T ANY OF YOU SCARED?!" Jaemin screamed at his friends as he started to lose control over his lungs. He tugged and scraped at his chest and throat and fell to the floor, the rest of the dreamies flying to his side.

 

"Listen to me count, Jaemin-ah. You're too injured to stop breathing now. Inhale with me, okay? 1...2...3...4...5...6...7. Okay. You're okay. Now exhale. 1...2...3..." Donghyuck held Jaemin's hand as he coached him through what appeared to be a panic attack. He had gone through enough of them himself in his trainee days to know how to regulate irregular breathing.

 

Jisung's eyes started to gloss over as he watched his friend struggle to breathe. He remembered when he used to hide in closets at school after an encounter with his bullies, fighting the anxiety away through gasps trying to take in more oxygen than a person could ever need when he felt like his lungs weren't getting any. He knew how it felt and he hated more than anything to see Jaemin going through it. He buried his head in Chenle's shoulder, trying to block out the situation.

 

"5...6...7. Okay. Good. Are you okay now? Can you breathe by yourself?" Donghyuck asked softly. Jaemin's eyes had become devoid of all emotion during the ideal, but he managed to give a nod assuring that he could breathe.

 

"I'll call him now. Okay, Jaemin?" Renjun watched for Jaemin's second nod before dialing Jeno's number, lifting the phone to his ear. But the call went straight to voicemail. Tears flowed out of Jaemin's eyes once again following the obnoxious voice telling him to leave a message for not one time, not two times, but three times as Renjun tried desperately to reach Jeno.

 

"Where is he? Where _is_ he? What if he's hurt? _God fucking damn it what if that dumbass is hurt oh fuck no no NO._ "

 

"Hey hey hey! It's okay...it's okay," Hyuck pulled Jaemin into a hug that he luckily didn't refuse; he just melted into his friend's warm arms. "I doubt he went anywhere far, okay? Let's think of places he could be." Jaemin nodded at the suggestion, scrubbing the moisture in his eyes away. It was quiet for a long, uncomfortable moment.

 

"Maybe he went to the hyungs' dorm?" Chenle supplied, breaking the silence.

 

"Maybe he went out with Doyoung for food or something," Jisung tried.

 

"Maybe he's been at the gym," Renjun suggested.

 

"No."

 

Everyone looked up quizzically at Jaemin, whose eyes were focused on the floor. He had just remembered Jeno's promise to face Hyunwoo.

 

"He's at the practice room."

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Jeno meets up with Hyunwoo in the practice room, believing it is the only way to protect his members. Hyunwoo gets way too touchy and Jeno tries to run away, but Hyunwoo gets angry and beats him up. It is implied that Hyunwoo then sexually violated Jeno further. Then, back to the present, Jaemin has a panic attack about Jeno not being in his room and the other dreamies help him until they figure out where Jeno must be.
> 
>  
> 
> I'm sorry that this chapter took so long to put out! I truly had no idea how far I wanted it to go or how I wanted it written. I also changed a couple formatting things and in general was just kind of busy and clueless recently but I'm gonna try my best to get the next one out quicker.
> 
> also for those who get like notifs on this through subscription or something, does it tell you every time i edit it? bc if so im so sorry oof i edit this a lot


	8. Running 2 U

Panting surrounded Chenle as the five Dream members ran in the dark towards the SM building. Not a minute was wasted after Jaemin shared Jeno's location before they had rushed out the door. Chenle couldn't help imagining what might be going on in that practice room.

 

_What if Hyunwoo was there? (Of course Hyunwoo was there)_

_What if Hyunwoo was hurting Jeno? (Of course Hyunwoo was hurting him)_

_What if Hyunwoo was doing something...worse? (Oh god, please no...)_

 

It took less than ten minutes to finally reach the building, but as his legs burned and mind raced, Chenle thought it must have been years since they set out. They must be too late. Everything must be over. Jeno would be hurt and Jaemin would cry and it was his fault for not opening Jeno's door sooner all his fucking fault how fucking typical and

 

"Chenle?"

 

Jisung was crouched down, hand on Chenle's shoulder. He hadn't even noticed that he had crumpled into a ball on the ground. Jisung called for Jaemin, Renjun, and Donghyuck, who had already started up the stairs, to wait up for them.

 

"We don't have time to rest, ok? We gotta find Jeno," Jisung said softly, awkwardly standing and reaching out his hand to help Chenle up. Chenle took it gratefully and the two boys caught up with the others.

 

"You okay?" Renjun asked Chenle, returning to his role of most mature member after recieving the younger's affirmation. "Okay, practice room right?"

 

Jaemin nodded, his mouth a tight line. The group ran two steps at a time up the staircases to the third floor, which housed the dance and vocal practice rooms. As he trudged down the long hallway towards Dream's current practice room, Jaemin tried his absolute best to prepare for whatever he was about to see. Well, no, he wasn't preparing, he was denying. He was ready to see his boyfriend engaged in an intense dance practice, moving fluidly across the floor without a care in his wonderful mind. He was definitely ready to see Jeno by himself, working for himself, no Hyunwoo in sight. He was just so fucking ready to see Jeno normal and healthy and smiling like an idiot.

 

So imagine his disappointment when the door opened and nothing greeted him but an empty room. No Jeno. No Hyunwoo. Nothing but Jaemin, his friends, and Jeno's coat carelessly tossed in the corner.

 

There definitely weren't some terrifying red spots on the floor over there.

Definitely not.

It was perfectly clean.

It was fine.

So, SO fine.

Jaemin was fine.

 

"Hey? Hey! Earth to Jaemin?"

 

He blinked as he registered Donghyuck's hand waving in front of his eyes before noticing that the other boys had already left the room.

 

"We're going to split up and search the rest of the building, okay? Chenle and Jisung are heading to the second floor and Renjun is checking the first. We're gonna check the other rooms here together, is that good with you?" Donghyuck said in the calmest tone he could muster. After Jaemin gave an understanding yet meek nod, Hyuck started to exit the room but was stopped by Jaemin's hand.

 

"Where did his coat go? It was right there. I need to bring it to him."

 

"Jisung grabbed it, don't worry. You really did space out just then, huh? It's okay, we understand. Let's go?" Jaemin cued that he was ready and Hyuck gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, the two leaving the room without a chance for Jaemin to glance back.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Chenle and Jisung ran in, through, and around the office cubes on the second floor in haste before concluding that Jeno was not hiding under any of them. They were opening each and every door they could when a phone started to ring, neither Chenle nor Jisung's normal ringtone. They almost disregarded the tone as one of the company phones before Jisung remembered he was carrying Jeno's coat. He shuffled through the pockets at the speed of light to find Jeno's phone stuffed in one of them, answering on the last ring.

 

"Hello?"

 

"Hey Jeno-ya! Figured you might be bored on the weekend and thought we could get some ice cream? I'll pick you up?" Doyoung's chipper, brotherly voice shone through the phone.

 

"Doyoung hyung, this is Jisung. Jeno is... Jeno.." Jisung's eyes began to water. Chenle grabbed the phone.

 

"Jeno is lost, Doyoung hyung."

 

"What? What do you mean lost. Why do you have his phone? Is Jisung okay? Is Jeno? Where are you guys?"

 

"None of us have seen Jeno all day and he wasn't in his room. We thought he'd be at the practice room but he isn't and we can't find him. We're searching SM building now." Chenle couldn't believe how easily the words came out, considering his little breakdown earlier. But Jisung needed him to explain, and Doyoung needed to know, so he guessed it was for the better.

 

"Okay. Shit. Okay. Taeyong and I will come help. Give us five minutes. We'll be right there." Chenle could hear the start of Doyoung's yell to Taeyong before the line cut off. He leaned down and gave Jisung a quick hug, telling him of the hyung's plan.

 

"I don't think he's on this floor. Let's go help Renjun, okay?"

 

"Not needed," Renjun said, surprising both boys as he walked towards them from the stairwell. "I already finished checking downstairs and he isn't there. I guess we should meet back up with Jaemin and Donghyuck." Jisung and Chenle agreed. The pack of boys were heading up the stairs when they heard a faint scream, prompting their pace to increase tenfold.

 

"That was definitely Jaemin," Jisung announced.

 

"I think it came from the bathroom," remarked Renjun. The group ran to the restroom, stumbling through the door to find a sobbing Jaemin holding onto Jeno's sleeping (unconscious?) form on the water-covered floor. Donghyuck was trying desperately to turn one of the faucets off. It appeared to be stuck and was obviously the source of the small flood. The three newly-arrived boys couldn't help but be frozen to the spot for a moment by the bizarre sight before springing into action.

 

Chenle turned away to dial Doyoung's number and let him know their location while Jisung helped Donghyuck in finally pushing the faucet handle into the correct position. Renjun kneeled down to join Jaemin, not expecting to be striked back by Jaemin's shaking hand.

 

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!! HE'S HURT AND IT'S ALL OUR FAULT!" Jaemin screamed, directing the attack not only at Renjun but all the Dream members. It was only when the room fell deadly silent and Jaemin went back to burying his head in Jeno's chest that the boys could fully inspect Jeno's state (from a distance, of course. Jaemin was holding onto Jeno too tightly and too protectively for anyone to try and get closer).

 

Jeno had various bruises on his cheeks and one very pronounced black eye. From the bits of dried blood on his neck and his matted hair Renjun could tell that his head must be badly injured (probably where the red spots on the practice room floor came from). Renjun refused to acknowledge the bruises and hickeys leading down Jeno's neck past the collar of his shirt and how puffy and raw his lips looked. He also didn't want to think about the blue and black patches of on the wrists peeking out from Jeno's sleeves and shook away the prospect of how many more blemishes must be hiding under the rest of the fragile-looking boy's clothes.

 

Renjun didn't like seeing one of his best friends appear fragile.

 

It was then that the door slammed open once more and a frantic Doyoung rushed into the room, followed by an equally distressed Taeyong.

 

"What the hell— Holy shit," Doyoung exclaimed, covering his mouth when he laid eyes on Jaemin desperately hugging Jeno's pathetic form. Taeyong couldn't bring himself to say anything. He splashed through the sad little lake adorning the bathroom floor to kneel next to the pair on the ground, the rest of the dreamies making way for him to do so. As he reached out, Jaemin screamed again.

 

"NO! DON'T TOUCH HIM YOU'LL MAKE IT WORSE!"

 

"I promise I won't hurt him more, Jaemin-ah. I just want to help. Please let me help," Taeyong said calmly, reaching his hand to wipe some of the tears from Jaemin's eyes. Once the younger boy came back to his senses and realized that it was just Taeyong hyung with him, he relaxed his grip on his boyfriend and allowed him to be transferred to the older's arms. The leader brushed some hair off of Jeno's forehead, willing himself not to cry—to be strong in front of the dreamies. He needed to get him to warmth, to safety. He needed to bring him to the 127 dorm and look into what other injuries were present. He had started to lift the boy when Doyoung called out.

 

"Can I hold him, hyung?" Doyoung's voice rang clear through the dingy room, perhaps too loud as Jisung gave a small flinch. Taeyong gave a silent nod and handed Jeno over to Doyoung's arms. He knew how close the two's bond was; he wasn't going to keep Doyoung's practical little brother away from him.

 

Taeyong walked towards the door, holding it open for the entourage of his younger members to file out, sad to see harsh, stoic, yet broken expression adorning each of their faces.

 

"We're going to the 127 dorm so I can check for further damages and see if we have to take him to hospital," Taeyong directed as the group shuffled towards down the stairs towards the exit, Doyoung taking particular care not to jostle Jeno too much. Unfortunately—

 

"I-"

 

There was a cough.

 

"I want to go to the Dream dorm," Jeno's voice announced with a scarily raspy tone. Jaemin tried his absolute best to not make a huge deal out of his boyfriend awakening so as to not overwhelm him, but he couldn't suppress (and didn't need to) his sigh of relief.

 

"I know. I'm sorry, but we have a better first aid kit at our dorm and I'm scared that we'll need that..." Taeyong replied, barely above a whisper. He didn't want to disappoint the hurt kid, but they really did have a far better stocked kit at the 127 dorm, and he was 99% positive that Jeno had some hidden injuries he'd have to take care of. "We can take you home after we're done, okay?"

 

"M'kay," Jeno rasped out again before closing his eyes. He drifted back to sleep in Doyoung's arms.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry that this chapter took so long to put out! I've been insanely busy with schoolwork as it's last trimester of senior year and I have a job and two independent courses to keep up with. I'm not abandoning this though!
> 
> some hyung line/dreamie interactions (maybe some markhyuck idk buddy) next chapter~


	9. Walk You Home

Mark paced back and forth, chewing on his bottom lip. He had heard Doyoung's frantic call to Taeyong earlier and saw the two rush out of the dorm, but had no idea what the context for all the hustle was. His mind rushed with possibilities, especially negative ones due to his concern for Donghyuck earlier that day. He hoped this wasn't related, that this emergency was completely separated from his sweet Hyuckie.

 

The front door clicked open after an excruciating half hour. Mark stepped back to let a line of his teammates file in. Everyone's shoes were soaked, but he could swear it hadn't been raining? His mouth sunk into a firm line as he saw Jeno (Was he unconscious? He better be sleeping) being carried.

 

Was that red?

 

Why the FUCK was there red down Jeno's head?

 

He grabbed Donghyuck's hoodie sleeve as the frowning boy walked past. He hadn't even noticed Mark standing there.

 

"Baby...what the hell happened?"

 

"Not now, Mark. Give us some time to fix up Jeno." Hyuck turned to walk away but Mark caught him again. He pulled the collar of Hyuck's hoodie down, needing to confirm that the bruise he had seen earlier was real.

 

"Donghyuck, your neck. What happened to your neck? Oh god." Hyuck pushed his hand away.

 

"I said not now, okay? I'm fine, I promise."

 

"You are definitely not fine! Don't lie to me. Tell me who hurt you," Mark whisper-yelled.

 

"I'm not the issue right now, Mark! We're focusing on Jeno, okay? He's the one who's hurt. Let me go, please." Hyuck's tired tone was what persuaded Mark to release his grip. He watched as Hyuck ran off down the hall towards Taeyong's bedroom, where the rest of the group had disappeared. But all he wanted was to hug him and make everything alright.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Taeyong didn't know where to start. Doyoung had carefully deposited Jeno onto Taeyong's bed, but none of their little entourage seemed to have any clue what to do from there, considering the long moment of frozen in silence before Renjun stepped in.

 

"Should we check his head first, hyung?" he suggested. Taeyong nodded, then directed Doyoung to grab the first aid kit as he started propping up the younger boy.

 

The bruising...it hurt to even look at, especially in the dim, shadowy lighting of Taeyong's bedroom. Jaemin had to leave the room right after getting a closer look at his boyfriend's face.

 

"Hyung?" Yuta's head popped through the doorway, investigating the source of the commotion he heard a moment ago. "Hyung, what's wrong?" he asked nervously.

 

"Jeno is hurt. We are going to patch him up, although now I think it'd be best if just the hyungs handled this. Can you please take the dreamies out with you?" They didn't even protest, gathering into Yuta's arms as they exited the room, leaving Taeyong alone with Jeno.

 

How had this happened? Wait scratch that, back up. _What_ had even happened? Clearly someone had seriously injured Jeno, and it obviously wasn't an accident. There was intent behind the bruises that littered this kid's skin. This kid who Taeyong was in charge of, who he was supposed to protect and take care of. First he couldn't protect Jisung at school, now he couldn't help Jeno from whoever hurt him. He couldn't stop his entire group from constantly being exhausted and in pain from SM's relentless schedules either. What kind of leader was he if he couldn't even keep his members from struggling in that most basic way?

 

Doyoung returned to the room, forcing Taeyoung to stop overthinking. He had the first aid kit in hand and a confused Jaehyun trailing behind.

 

"I thought we could use some help," Doyoung explained, and Taeyong nodded his head in agreement. Doyoung relayed the situation of how they found Jeno to Jaehyun, who listened with a concerned expression as Taeyong prepared the supplies from the kit that he thought they'd need. Once all the explaining was over and everything was ready, the three boys turned to Jeno's sleeping form. Taeyong hesitated before making himself push away his emotions so he could do the best job of healing Jeno as he possibly could.

 

"Let's clean up his head first, and check where the blood is coming from."

 

They set to work, wiping off the blood with damp gauze. Jaehyun examined the back of Jeno's head and located a small break in the skin where the source of the blood must have begun. He dressed the wound as best he could before everyone turned their attention to the rest of Jeno's broken body.

 

"What do we do for the bruises?" Jaehyun asked.

 

"I'm not sure," Doyoung replied, "I think you're supposed to ice them or elevate them or something, but there's really too many for that... I guess we just leave them? I mean we should definitely take him to a hospital to get a professional opinion, but for now..."

 

"For now, we should just see how many there really are, and how bad they get. There's definitely going to be more under his shirt," Taeyong added. Doyoung sucked in air as Taeyong lifted Jeno's shirt, revealing a freaking _mosaic_ of bruising on his abdomen. Doyoung swore under his breath and Jaehyun felt close to crying.

 

"Holy shit..." Taeyong couldn't hold his emotions back anymore, not after seeing one of his goddamn kids like this, and especially not after finally noticing the numerous bite marks scattered across the young boy's body. How could whoever did this...do _that_? How far had they gone...Oh god, Taeyong couldn't think about it anymore.

 

"I need a break," he announced. The others nodded. They got a fresh shirt for Jeno and Jaehyun covered him with a blanket before they started to head out.

 

"Hyungs?' A soft, gravelly voice spoke out. The boys turned back immediately, seeing Jeno's half-open eyes and rushing back to the bed.

 

"Baby, thank god you're awake. We brought you to the 127 dorm, and I know we promised to take you back to Dream right after but we haven't finished fixing you up yet...Are you hurting anywhere? That's a dumb question, of course you are, sorry. Can we get you anything? Do you want to rest more? Anything you need-" Doyoung rambled along before Taeyoung gently put his hand on his shoulder, signaling to not overwhelm the boy.

 

"Some...some water? If that's okay, hyung."

 

"Of course that's okay. Jaehyun, can you grab that?" Jaehyun nodded and headed out to grab some. When he returned, Jeno drank the whole cup in one shot. While Jaehyun went to get more, Taeyong addressed Jeno again.

 

"Do you want to tell us about what happened to make you like this now? Or do you need some time? Whatever works for you," He offered. He couldn't help that he was desperate to understand, but he didn't want to intimidate the boy so quickly after he woke up.

 

"I don't think...not now?" Jeno took a while to respond, lengthened by the break he took to gulp down the new water Jaehyun brought in.

 

"That's okay. Take whatever time you need, Jeno-ya."

 

"Can I be alone for a while...sorry I just, just need some time to think," Jeno asked sheepishly, as though Taeyong would say no.

 

"Of course. But if you need anything, please call for us and we'll be back in an instant, okay? Or text us if speaking hurts. Doyoung, do you have Jeno's phone?" Taeyong asked.

 

"No, I think Chenle had it last. He called us on it, remember?"

 

"Right. We'll bring it back to you, okay Jeno? And then we'll leave you alone for a while."

 

"Actually...can you send Jaemin back with it? I want...I want to see him," Jeno asked, again as though it was a request his hyungs would refuse, although he wasn't sure himself why he thought that.

 

"Yes, definitely. We'll send him in," Doyoung reassured Jeno before the group of hyungs left the room, returning to the living room where the dreamies along with an impressive turnout of the rest of the 127 members were huddled. Taeyong asked Jaemin Jeno's request, and the younger boy nodded, taking the phone from Chenle before joining his boyfriend, leaving Taeyong facing 11 confused and somber members of his group.

 

"Okay you guys, what the fuck happened?"

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry this took so long. i guess i should stop promising when i'll post bc i never stick to it lol. also sorry this is short (granted i guess all my chapters are short, maybe it's not even shorter, i don't know), i thought it'd be better to give y'all a short chapter so you know i'm not dead than nothing.


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